All over the bed were papers, some stapled and folded over, some were longer folding lists. All had names on them, all were citizens of Callisto. Some of the documents looked much older than others, as if they'd come from different generations. Standing over the entire mess was Drystan, eyes roving over lists, a pen hovered over the paper he was currently looking at, and he crossed out several names listed as “Sullivan” but had been deceased for some time. He chewed on his lip as he worked, all else was quiet in the artists room.
There are shadows in the room, the lights causing them to spill out from the bookshelves, and the bed, and the couch. Each shadow seems to stretch just a bit longer, quivering at their edges. Deep in the pooling darkness, glowing eyes, the shade starting out as a dusky rose color, before blooming to a bright pink, appears. The orbs seem to look about, and then rest on the man pouring over the papers. There is nothing but this silent observation for a moment before a body spills through. Her paw pads are quiet as she steps out but a few of the candles about her gutter out, and the air seems to grow colder, the smell of mint and rose filling the air. The shape is amorphous at first before solidifying into what appears to be a massive dark smilodon relative, sitting demurely behind him.
In Drystan’s mind, it was not quiet. It rarely was. He had his conversations with Mrs. Merryweather and that piece of shit Jacob rolling on repeat in the moviehouse he seemed to have in his head. He ran through the sequence of killing Jacob over and over as well, it seemed to soothe him since he yet had any concrete answers, and needed more. The shift in the light in the room is what he took note of at first. Not so lost in the paperwork that he wasn't going to notice his light dampening in which to read by. But it was a drafty house, and he had one window open at least. So his eyes continued down the page. Then he caught a glimpse of his breath, and the hair on the back of his neck stood up. Either a ghost had somehow broken the wards and wriggled its way into the house, or perhaps Eli had come through the window without so much of a meep of a greeting. But it was the smell, and the sense of something large looming behind him as he opened his third eye to see those pink orbs behind him. He gasped and spun on his heel, and stared wide eyed at the very large toothsome feline sat in the shadows behind him. “Who are you? Beware I will defend myself if needed!” He had no weapons on him, he was just a meatbag in some nice clothes as far as he looked, but he didnt need a physical weapon to defend himself. He also didn’t emotionally sense immediate danger either, more like…cool contemplation, cat-style.
The Large feline had her ears pricked forward, her body language loose and languid, though there was an alertness to those hazy pink eyes. Her, for it's easy to tell that this is a female with how she's settled, paws are about the size of dinner plates and they absently knead the ground, leaving little scratches to show that she's truly here. Something about the fur might seem familiar, for the faint green shimmer on the edges reminds one of moss and growing things, and he had seen the smaller version of her on that Hellish ship, before he had gone down "Hello there Mr. Windgrace, I am not here to offer you harm. You may call me Valene if it pleases you" A raspy voice came from the feline, the tone resonating just enough with the withheld power that she's holding onto "My King has offered alliance to your family, for the moment temporary until mutual enemies are handled, and I am here as I have something you might be interested in.”
Drystan relaxed the moment the voice said the name Valene. He had not seen her in this manner before, so his initial fight or flight wore off fairly quickly. “Forgive me, Valene. I did not recognize you.” He watched her large paws make big biscuits out of the hardwood, and then looked back up into her wide dark face. “Your King? Oh. Berkshire. Right! I …just learned of his royal status quite recently, I had no Idea, you were a Queen, m’lady.” With that he gave a proper bow, a bow learned into the cores of bones that were created in the Renaissance and knew what a bow was supposed to look and feel like. He’d bow to her, as was due in a Queen’s presence, at least once. But as he drew up from it he gave her an inquisitive smile. “A ..temporary alliance hm? I was unaware there were any rivalries.” He mused, and lifted his hands in the air, palms turned upwards. “I am quite the curious creature, so whatever you may have that I could be interested in, I’m all ears.”
Valene SilverPard would give a very feline smile as he looked down at her very large paws, standing up "Yes, this form is easier to travel the shadows in, and with the slew of mushrooms invading many spaces in this city.. i find that the Shadow Roads are the safest way to travel and not come in contact with them" She says before watching him give a formal bow to her. There is a soft chuff and she moves forward, bunting her head against his chest in playfulness "I am still Valene to you Drystan, drop the m'lady. I am not that, not for you. As for alliances... There are powers in this city, those that control much, both overtly and covertly. We are both such, along with a few other parties. It does not do to have too many hands stirring the pots without agreements in place. People might attempt a coup," The air is almost painfully cold about this large cat, wisps of shadows spreading from her fur "I could not carry it with me. I have it in a safe haven, hidden and bound...would you be willing to place your trust in me to go and see it?"
He laughs when she headbutts him and he catches her head around the scruff just behind the ears to softly pet, because that is what comes naturally. “Oh…My goodness okay Valene..” He took a step back and nodded to her. “I’ve seen them before…but not in the waking world. It’s strange to me that they now exist as they did in my dreams. I’ve stayed away from as much of it as possible. So far, so good.” He nodded at her and crossed an arm across his chest contemplatively. “I understand this. Hm. Then so it shall be. Alliance, ..for mutual benefits.” He nodded and gave her a smile, as his skin broke out into goosebumps. “Yes, I have no reason not to trust you, so long as I’m able to return here, I trust that wherever you take me and that this item is well worth it.”
Valene SilverPard feels very interesting to pet. Her fur is dense and luxurious in this form, almost velvety, but there are definitely what seems like tendrils of moss and vines that hide and weave through the strands. Even a few closed rosebuds that his fingers would discover "It will not be a comfortable trip. I can not give you the blessing that I would normally give to others when I take them through these Roads. So I will ask that you climb onto my back, and you hold on very tightly. There is no air there...and if you are seen you will be hunted. You are not Fae of any kind, nor I think are you human. You would be considered a monstrosity even among the monsters that reside there now. But I will deliver you safely. But ask that you not share the place that I am giving you access to.. for it is my home." She tells him before stretching down to allow him to get onto her back.
His eyes show that he is taking everything she says quite keenly, nodding every few moments. He does however hold up a finger. “One moment then…I will need this, It will help.” He stepped to the side and opened up a trunk, filled with every sort of vial in every color and brilliance one might imagine. None were labeled, or if they had labels, simply had shapes indicating the contents. He pulled out a round bauble with a cork in the top that looked perfectly empty. “Potion of Undeathly Breath. I don't need to worry about holding my breath. And… “ He peeled out of his white shirt and vest and tie, revealing the mix of shadows swirling on his own skin, as well as the inky oil slick shadows that he usually glamoured out of sight, it too would help camouflage him. “I would never reveal the location of your home, that's unthinkable.” With that, he hitched up his pant leg and lifted a long leg over her to settle softly in the curve of her back, behind the shoulders, where he could lean down into her, and get a good grip on the fur and earthy tendrils that made up the back of her scruff.
Valene SilverPard allows her gaze to slip over him as he pulls off the shirt, looking at the markings on his flesh with what might pass for approval with in a feline manner "And I thought the tentacles were the most surprising aspect" She says dryly, holding quite still as he climbs up on her back. There is a humming sound afterwards, and the vines and moss that he had felt under her fur begin to grow longer, and wrap around his legs and arms, binding him to her just in case. There is a shift and the shadows crawl up to meet them before they are falling falling falling. Down the rabbit hole they go. The world they land in is a thing of pure monochromatic wasteland. It's frigidly cold, stealing whatever breath he might have had before the potion took effect, and for as far as the eye could see there is nothing but dead grass, dead trees, bones, and what appears like ash. High in the sky flies hundreds of dark birds, swooping and circling. There is no sound but all of a sudden they veer to head in the direction that the large cat gathers her legs under her and begins to run. The time could have been hours or it could have been minutes, it's hard to tell in this place, but Val is leaping through nothing, when the birds begin to divebomb her, sharp and wicked talons outspread. Close close... and then they are tumbling out into a place of verdant green, of twinkling lights and roses, of small fae that peek at them before scurrying away. There is a pool of crystal clear water, and mushrooms that are growing haphazardly everywhere except for by the water. Val's panting, sides heaving from the run, but the vines untangle from him.
/me had pulled the cork out of the bottle and swallowed down the contents, which he could feel, but was invisible, and threw it down as the shadows crept around them and they began to fall. He buried his face into her fur as the vines and tendrils wove around his body to bind him to her, and he kept his face low once they hit that endless monotone plane. He could see from the corners of his eyes through tufts of fur the vast nothing, but he did crane his head to the side to glance upwards at the swarms of black winged birds, circling overhead. He spoke not a word but silently said prayers for safe passage.
Finally, they both broke into a place so alive it knocked what last of the Unbreathing potion out of him and he sucked in a huge breath, filled with aether and motes of lights and dusts as he rolled off Valene’s back once he is unfurled from the vines in her fur. He lays on his back sucking in this new air, and feeling the effect of it leaving him a little light headed. Maybe that had been the trip here. Who knew? But he finally sat up, and looked around slowly as things skittered and ran away when his gaze would come near them. He was certainly out of place here, where everything teemed with some sort of life. He crawled to his feet, balancing out after a moment and started to dust the bits of glowing grass off his ass. “Well…that was…something.”
Valene SilverPard had run as fast as she could through the roads. Generally they are not such an issue but.. lately they have become more dangerous. The things that are there hunting, seem more active, seem to be looking for things that don't belong. She watches as Drystan falls to the ground and catches his breath, the winkling lights slipping across his face. The area seems vibrant and alive, but there is something that seems just a bit off in it. Something just a bit sick. There is a small scurry of beings that hide away and some are out and about...but they are staring fixedly, hungrily at the mushrooms about them, trying to grab at them. The large cat takes a deep breath and the magic spills over her, causing her to stand upright. She is naked as the day she was born, her lush dark curves twining with vines and leaves and roses, her long dark hair spilling around her almost to the floor, her paw like feet digging into the soil as her tail lashes about her "I apologize for the speed of that run...they are becoming worse lately and I am not sure why exactly." The honeyed voice purrs out to him as she looks up.
Eyes drift from the beings lumbering around the mushrooms, trying to snatch them up. He took a few steps away from the mushrooms. “I wouldn’t have known that was any faster than normal, what is normal anyway?” He turned back around to catch her transformation, and he watched it with openly curious eyes. It was quite impressive the change from a large cat to her natural form. She is stunningly beautiful, that is obvious enough to him. He just gave her a smile and shook his head, “No reason to apologize. I’m here, you’re here, and the nasties didn’t get us. All that matters really. Thank you, for the safe passage.”
Valene looks at the beings that are staring at the mushrooms, and there is a sad flicker across her face, a worried light in her eyes, but she makes no move towards them. They will just keep coming back to those mushrooms. "The mushrooms started here, a few weeks before they appeared in the city, much of the Sithen has had to be quarantined, but the effects seem different" She softly explains to him before she moves away from them herself, carefully laying a hand on his arm to direct him "Lets go sit in the common room, there are seats there and it's not as exposed to all in the Sithen, it will allow my people to do what they need. Some are not so accepting of other races, being hunted for a very long time for... parts" She says softly before moving towards what looks like a large glass pane. It swings open as she touches it, and she's bustling into the other room, her tail swishing alluringly behind her. "Drystan, Don't thank Fae... it's a very bad thing to get accustomed to.. " She calls over her shoulder.
Blinking as she puts her hand on his arm, he watches her move towards the glass pane, and follows along at her side, exhaling slowly. “Yes, of course. I don’t want to upset any residents with my being here.” Not the innocents. Talk about making a bad first impression as well. “I will stop tanking you then. But I’m sure that you well understand the feeling meant there. I …didn’t want to just push a feeling upon you without being forewarned. Seems rude.” He looked all around the large room, and took a seat across from her at a large table. “I’m afraid I’m an uneducated peon when it comes to Fae and rules. We, ..my siblings and I, grew up on stories, but..that was all they were. So far I’ve found most were just tales warning humanity off interfering with their world.”
Valene SilverPard leads him into the sitting room. It seems like this is a communal kitchen and living room area. There are a few fae that are working over the cooking fires and stone ovens. The thing that Drystan would notice is that there seems to be very little metal in the Sithen, most things made of wood or stone "I know the feeling that you are portraying. For a Fae, to thank us is to acknowledge a debt between us. One that could be very hazardous to your health or well being. We are beings that thrive off chaos after all, Chaos and Dreams and the dark and light aspects of it. We will exist alongside humanity because their dreams and creativity keep us real, but yes most of the stories were made to encourage humanity from getting too close. Because we all have our frailties'' She says softly, slumping into the chair. There is an all around fatigue on Val, as though she's drained and exhausted, her body swaying just for a moment "Very few humans, or beings that might have been human are allowed within most Sithens. My King and I... are not most. We have taken in a rather large amount of others, welcomed them. It's how we survive."
“Perhaps whatever I am becoming more and more of each day isn’t so far off from your own then. Chaos in particular. Chaos breeds life and evolution, it's the grande disorder and disarray that so many try to avoid, but I find comfort in.” He shrugs some as he watches her slump into her seat. “Are you well Valene?” Sitting up more, he asks her plainly “Did that travel exhaust you so?” Is there something I can ..get for you to help?” He was no healer, she was in fact, of some sort was what he recalled.
Valene SilverPard slowly blinks her eyes at him, and gives a faint smile, shaking her head "No, The travel did not get me. The mushrooms hit here first, and this Sithen...it's a living extension of my King and I...it was born of our powers, and with the mushrooms, it's sapping at us. I'm doing better than most, just very tired. But your concern is appreciated '' She tells him softly, holding a hand out to her side. Out of the shadows of the table rises a book. It's clearly arcane in some fashion, and seems almost insidious in its simplicity. She lays it on the table. “I snagged this book from the survivor of your ship. He was clinging to it and was very much unstable. Some of my healers looked at him and got him well enough to go to that human hospital... but the book stayed with me. I've looked at it, but I acknowledge I am no expert on the occult."
He stares at the book as it comes to rest between them. Instantly his curiosity piqued and he had to fight himself to not grab out with either hand nor mind. “That man is not a survivor anymore.” He said flatly as he stared at the cover, the paper itself. He finally looked up at her. “He was part of the reason that ship was in its condition, and his fellow crew were dead. But it did not begin with him. I am working to gather information.” He had itchy hands and he placed them flat on the table in front of him. “I might be able to use this to great advantage.” His eyes flicked up to meet hers. “I am indeed interested in this. What is, ahm… the ‘cost’ of inspecting this? To study it?” See? He had no idea what he was doing.
Valene SilverPard watches him. Her body might be exhausted, but the Cait Sidhe has been alive and around the block for long enough to know the way that men tick. Some are easy to toy with, some are harder. But everyone has their little tells. His scent changes, his hands press flat. Her ears flick back for a moment as she hears about the survivor's fate, and she gives a faint shrug "Good to know this. He did not give me much of anything beyond wild gibberish, but I did not like what I smelled on that ship. And I take no pity on those that play with forces they can't control. Gods and Monsters alike..." She thinks for a moment, and then there is a slow smile, a playful one "The price is one that I do not think that you'll find too onerous. My people, the Cait Sidhe, have mostly been eradicated. There are some scattered ones left, but for the most part.. our home is gone, and many were murdered. As a Cait Queen, part of my duty is to help... re-populate them. This island is full of interesting bloodlines, things that have never bred with Fae...things that will bring forth something new. Something vast. Your bloodline smells interesting. Powerful in a way that is not of Faekind. I wish for you to give me kittens. They will be your children as well as mine, and I will not keep them from you unless you wish me to do so. I am planning on a very large amount, over many many years, so they will likely be raised communally." She explains, her lips still tilted upwards "For your promise of future kittens, I will give this book to you"
He watched her keenly, and tilted his head as she told the story of her people, and of the cost of the book. “You…want me to breed with you. For the book.” He repeated it outloud, because it seemed like such a wild and strange thing. It certainly was not at all what he expected. And, he never much expected to have a …litter. “I am somewhat beside myself Valene.” He laughed a low huffing laugh and shook his head. “They would be safe here with you, raised with others …somewhat like them?” He weighed the possibilities, and knew that this was not like some random bastard that might have existed at some point and is now crumbled to dust. “If I chose to meet them, it would be okay…” he chewed on the inside of his cheek. “Okay. It’s a deal then.”
Valene SilverPard looks at him with wise eyes "Yes. It sounds unorthodox, I know. I have heard it from the other bloodlines that I have spoken to about this, but... for a Fae, fertility is usually very limited and scarce. We do not breed like mortals do Drystan. And I watched" She stops here, bowing her head and digging her claws into the table. "Those birds that attacked us earlier... they are the underlings of the Ruler of that place. That place was my home once upon a time. The ruler of that place... murdered my people. I watched her tear apart my own children. I had to bury them, and make their caern stones with my own paws... So yes. I am making deals to bring life back to my people.. to hold life within me again, and know that when I die, there will be Cait Sidhe in some fashion in this world" Her voice is raspy and fierce, as are the eyes that look up at him "Each and every one of the fae and non-fae that live in this Sithen will fight to protect these kittens... They will know they are loved. That they are accepted here... that no one is going to look at them and say that they are monsters. I swear that to you."
Drystan sat calmly, pursed lips as his hands dropped from the table. “That is a terrible thing to endure.” he exhaled slowly and could feel her emotions wash over and through him. The truth init, the ferocity in it. He believed her. But he also felt pained for her. “I don’t fault you for the unorthodoxy. I am …hardly one to hold that to anyone honestly.” His voice was low and careful because he was responding to that flare of emotions as much as her words alone. “I would do all I could to protect my family, and ensure their livelihoods. Nothing is more precious than those ties of family.” He nodded and let his eyes find hers. “The deal is yours. Take what you need from me. And I will share whatever knowledge I find as well.”
Valene SilverPard fights to master her own emotions, that crack of pain issuing through every fiber of her being, that boiling rage, that desperate rancid hatred. It pulses through her, and the shadows that linger around the room lash like rippling tentacles on the ground. The roses that had laid closed on the vines of her body open up and turn as though they are all staring at him. One breath, two...and Val's got it under control "On that subject we agree. Take the book Drystan... and when we have figured out this... oddness, I will come to you and we can discuss how you wished to go about this... I wouldn't mind a full performance though" She winks playfully, letting her gaze roam over him now, and carefully smirking, that pain locked away for another day.
He gazes wide eyed at her, bracing himself against her riptide of malevolent rage. He did as he was told, and reached out and took the book carefully in his hands, feeling the cover as he laid it in his lap, fingers curled around its edges. “Yes… Valene, of course. If that's what you wish, then that is what you get.” The side of his mouth curled up into a little bit of a smile. He wasn’t dead. Just not entirely human. “I look forward to that, of course.” He looked down at his lap at the cover of the book. “I feel like you’ve made such a journey to bring me and this book together, is your manner of travel the only way to and from? Or are there doorways, gates?” That was verbiage he was more familiar with.
Valene SilverPard laughs softly as she sees that smile curl up his lip, shifting so that she is a bit more on display for his eyes. She's a cat, and a fae, and a woman... all of which enjoy being appreciated just a little bit. Vain thy name MIGHT be Valene. She settles after a few seconds, her fingers tracing the wood on the table "Yes. There are gates, and you are here under my blessing, so you will be allowed to leave at your leisure. I brought you the way I did.. because it avoids more contact with the mushrooms. There are so many of them in the city. I've just taken to walking the shadows" She stands up and moves over to settle besides him "I'll give you a gift, one that shows my favor on you" She doesn't need to bend far to press her lips, cool and minty against his own, her breath slipping forth to tingle against his own. If he was keenly aware of magic, he'd feel something weave into place, but it doesn't seem harmful. This kiss is chaste by comparison to how most people would view kisses.
He didn't close his eyes as she came to be next to him, and he very much appreciated her form, and lithe nature of movement - and then she planted that kiss upon him. He felt something of course other than his own blood pressure surging and heartbeat hastening, something given, something placed. He pressed his lips against her gently, parting his mouth as she lifted her lips from him, his breath a soft mist of cool air before returning normal. “What is this magical gift you’ve given me?” He speaks softly to the small space between their faces. He kept his hands to himself, because he had not been invited to do anything else with them. He just knuckled at the bridge of the book.
Valene SilverPard strokes her hand over his hair, dragging her fingers down his flesh and taking care to not slice him with her sharp claws. Her hands and feet are definitely a bit more akin to that feline like anatomy that she takes on. She notes his heart beating a bit harder, and his breath shifting, his scent changing on the air and it pleases her, if the half-lidded gaze that he's given is any indication "The ability to breathe if you must go back to that world. So you don't have to use up your potions, especially with the shortages going on right now" She tells him, leaning in a bit more to nuzzle nose against nose "You may touch if you wish, I enjoy a good stroke or two." Sly playful grin and a wink to him.
Eyes slip shut as she slides her hand over his head and slowly reopens half lidded as she noted. He does not thank her for the gift, but instead turns in his seat, placing the book atop the table. One leg makes its way over the bench, so that he can bring himself closer to her. “I do, I do wish…” With him sat and her standing, his height posed less of a challenge. His hands find her hips, one hand sliding up side, the other gliding over her hip to the round of her ass. His hands move slowly and methodically, as if he’s trying to remember the way she feels to him, under his hands, against his skin. He leans then and lays the side of his face against her chest, between her breasts, so that he can listen to her heartbeat and the song the thrumming of her blood made, the unique like a fingerprint feeling of her blood and her being. This was more of a turn on, far more intimate for him than the kiss had been. “I hope the oddness is resolved quickly.” He murmurs into her chest.
Valene SilverPard would move readily, shifting and allowing her fingers to run over his flesh, tracing each of the markings curiously. She smells so alive in his arms. A mixture of that cold that always seems to linger about her, as though she's never fully released from the Shadows, and the burgeoning life of an awakening spring. There is a feral undertone in her scent, something that reminds one that they are not dealing with a tame being, as if the tiny pricks of her claws don't relay that message well enough. Her heart beats steadily under his ear, a little faster than a normal heartbeat, but not too different. If there's a song, it's one of wildness. This creature is not tamed, and will never be so. Fierce, hungry, feral, passionate. Her hair spills around them, hiding the going on's from view "I look forward to your efforts to give me young to bear. To feel life quicken and know that there was enjoyment on both sides.'' She says in a bemused fashion.
He looked up at her as he pulled his head from her chest, hidden in her halo and curtains of hair. His hands pulled back around her, to sit on her hips. “I will make sure my efforts please, and I am ... quite certain there will be much enjoyment from us both.” He cleared his throat a bit and then stood, still very close to her, emerging from her cloak of hair. It was made very clear he was indeed looking forward to it, now that his waistline was practically at her face height. But he didn’t remain there long. He reached and took up the book, and took a step back, holding the book in front of himself to hide any offensive natural reactions. “If you would show me to the gate, I will find my way home. I can avoid the mushrooms fairly well, they seem to stick out to me, because they feel so familiar, I am able to keep the spores from me as I walk. Create a buffer between myself and them. Though I feel a lengthy hot soaking bath once home will be in order.”